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Meddling with Time: a PMD tale.

------Reaching up slowly, Maya tugged the light grip of her fox’s hand away, a smile appearing shyly despite herself at the worry that marred the sweet, homely features as she took his hand.

He glanced down, a smile breaking the steadily hardening planes that twisted his expression, marred, into something else.

“Sorry, Maya.”

The air around them crackled, as the darkening gaze of her youngster - although he wasn't young any more – focused with sharp intensity to identify the threat. Deep emerald flicked back at the last moment to hers, the old sparkle of mischievousness returned with a ferocity that matched the foxfire licking around the edges of his quivering form.

Authors notes: So Katiekitten convinced me to post this little AU love-serial I've been writing. My story of unrequited love and stupid mistakes.

This is set in a twisted modern-day AU version of Pokemon Mystery dungeon, with a few changes. ;D

TO BEGIN WITH, THIS IS NOT CHRONOLOGICAL.

The prologue is sort of contained in the first two chapters. This story liberally plays within it's own time line, as is explained and straightened later. It is also mainly based around character interaction, as well as playing with ideas. I hope someone enjoys my warped sense of humor and logic. ;D

When it came to tricks, in this world, they named the foxes the gods, or demons, in legend. From the orient to the giant land mass that swamped most of the west, when it came to ploys, gambles, magic, games (the legends twisted through them all) what immortalised these tales, was the playful innocence of these creatures. It fascinated him, these creatures passed into powerful legends, in her world.

-------------------------
It had started with a wedding.

The decorations that littered the clearing around the well were simplistic in the view of their time, but elegant. Even though flowers were a vixen thing, a talented fox such as himself could appreciate the beauty provided by the simple theme of red and pink petals, which matched the bride flawlessly. As dearest friend to the bride, Vene would accept no less. Aside from that, it was obvious the groom had contributed nothing.

Irritation stirred in his gut, jade eyes narrowing with his disapproval. This event had meant something. It wasn’t fair, on her. In fact, Maya had always been unhappy around the baka.

His fur bristled with discomfort, an unhappy pout settling across the line of his mouth. Ahead of him, they joined hands, twin smiles meeting sweetly, with simple shyness, before the clatter of beads shook through the air in a flurry of colour, and within the midst of the mess, their lips met, sealing their vows.

Ignoring the distractions that lay all around him – the food, the pretty white cloth that Maya had brought back from home, the toys – the small fox's teeth worried his lip, unable to shake his unease as his eyes settled on the bride, watching, carefully.

He couldn’t take this.

In a flurry of ginger fur and ruby fire, the fox disappeared from the mess table, fleeing fast, faster, so that the flames licked his ankles, scorching the flowers beneath his claws. A flicker of movement in the corner of his eye showed that he had been spotted – with a growl vibrating through his teeth, he turned his mind away from it, and the faint cry that rose behind him.

“…Vene? Vene!”

----

“…do I know you?”

The taller, wiser fox had a small, secretive smile on his lips as he watched the young woman in the confines of his arms, her tentative heat warm and at home beneath him. Apart from the apparent tear strains tracking a solitary path down her delicate cheeks, she was as healthy and perfect as he remembered from his childhood.

“It’s good to see you, Manami.“

Her eyes widened at the use of full name, wondering confusion flitting incredulously through the gaze that eyed him sharply.

“How do you know that name…?”

“Don’t you recognise me? You once called me Vene.”

“Vene-?”

His hand was at her mouth, effectively sealing her lips part way through his name as Maya glanced up into the taller stature of the Fox with startled surprise. At the sudden tension in his features, Maya’s eyes immediately tracked his own, searching the short breadth of the small shrine courtyard for the source of the Fox's – but he was a man now, wasn’t he?- anxiety; but she couldn’t say she was surprised when she noticed nothing out of the ordinary. His senses had always been superior; his kind were miraculous creatures, really. Eyes skimming down a distinctly broad chest, the subtle changes to the appearance of this man both startling and oddly familiar. The long curls of ginger twining like fire around his face - that she could almost take for granted - and the same golden, gleaming, beautiful eyes. His form had changed, it was inescapable that reality, but she still felt the fox before her, the sharply angled lines of his face and small, tapered nails. She couldn't describe his clothes, and wouldn't have wanted to.

The form was both natural, and impossible. The stirrings of old academic fervor, the numerous questions she had left unanswered when she had been forced to leave that world blossomed up in a terrible bloom in her mind, and she could almost feel her claws again.

"What happened to you?"

Her heart thudded in her chest, in a familiar rhythm of excited stress that brought with it the tantalising reminisces of the mystery, when she had been changed into something beyond her belief. It had been so long since she had made contact with these creatures, or anything from that time, that the peace and serenity of her time had almost killed her.

Reaching up slowly, Maya tugged the light grip of her fox’s hand away, a smile appearing shyly despite herself at the worry that marred the sweet, homely features as she took his hand.

He glanced down, a smile breaking the steadily hardening planes that twisted his expression, marred, into something else.

“Sorry, Maya.”

The air around them crackled, as the darkening gaze of her youngster - although he wasn't young any more – focused with sharp intensity to identify the threat. Deep emerald flicked back at the last moment to hers, the old sparkle of mischievousness returned with a ferocity that matched the foxfire licking around the edges of his quivering form.

Stepping with practised ease past the guards of the village, the smile eased back onto the fox’s face as he reached the peaceful clearing that housed a series of huts, the cheery bright yellow of painted thatch guiding him like a garish beacon to the half-hidden entrance of the largest one. As much as you can hide an entrance to the most ostentatious building in this place. Somehow, he mused, breathing in the sweetened air, native only to the berry orchards of this area, it had been over a year since he had returned home.

The sleepy outskirts of the town curled around them like a lover, unchanged, the noticeboard fluttering with unread pieces of paper. The old adventures and dangers of the past had fallen finally to legend, all but the most naive of the young bored by mundane quests for lost 'items'. It was for this fact that Vene had easily reconciled the leaving of this place, although the inhabitants had been... another matter.

A smile licking up his maw, he padded past the tattered billboard, slipping beneath the rosy swell of the Pikachu's cheek into the warm, orange glow of the inner room. The glassy glaze to dark beaded eyes flew to his, as the small creature blinked at him in surprise, and despite the obvious pain it caused her, offered a bright smile.

The smell of sickness hit him like the stench of the gristle-gray dog at her side, shock sending a muffled whine skittering from his throat. What had happened here? Without another thought to the contents of the room, his paw raised to make a move forward - the low rumble of a growl forcing him to take stock of the room, the small, but clean little bed, and the low crouched figure that huddled next to it, golden eyes gleaming a challenge through the murky gloom. A warning saturated his tone, morphing the growl into a word: "Vulpix."

"My name is Vene." Eyes flicking away from the assumed aggressive crouch that the dog slipped into with an ease of gleaming, rippling muscle, his eyes slid inevitably back to the bed, trying to mask the pain as crinkling eyes offered a small smile in return. The volume and timbre of the growl reverberated louder across the small space, a significant coiling anger snarling an aggression that coiled through the gloom. Eyes snapping back to his, his responding snarl was almost inaudible. "Shut up, Mutt-"

Cutting himself off mid-word, his eyes skidded back to the small Pikachu as she gave a quiver, his fur shivering in a wave of anxiety as the tiny, imploring wail that slipped between tightly shut jaws ended, and the black shimmer left the small eyes, dumb lids flickered shut. Her return to unconsciousness was immediate, the length of her breaths evening, her heartbeat - the only sound in the room - returning to as lazy, self-indulgent pattern.

As soon as the lids of the small female had laid rest, the small form huddled by the door moved, delicate paws skirted navigating the scattered remains of a dozen uneaten meals in a circular assessment of the room, attention lingering on the puckered skin of the rotting fruit. In a flash of red fire, flaring paws leaving smoking scars in the worn carpet, the small fox had skirted the worst of the mess that punctuated the once comfortable interior in sodden heaps, burning path ending at the bedside.

“Mutt-face.”

The low words had just enough hint of a growl in them to catch the dog's attention easily. Golden assessed him, gleaning across the young fox’s rigid posture and the two twitching billows of bouncy orange tails in terse silence, before his head inclined in a sharp jerk towards the entry way. “Outside.”

His growl rattled behind his teeth, the sharp eye kept on the movements of the inhabitant of the far corner tempering his emotions only until he reached the outside. In a flurry of clashing teeth and flame, he turned sharply to his silent companion as he paused briefly at the door, eyes scanning the immediate proximity of the area before stepping delicately outside. Shoulders tensing, the mutt managed to keep himself somehow still in the doorway as the maw of the yellow stained muzzle faced him down.

“How did this happen?”

“Maya says it is a bug.” Mutt-face’s tone was hesitant with the term, but confident enough in Maya’s assessment of the situation. “She didn’t tell me she would be back early. I caught her scent by happy accident while sniffing for some food. She still won’t tell me what she was doing out there. But I trust her enough to tell me when it is right-”

He stopped at a loud retch; both men glancing back immediately to the hut. The pale mutt’s expression strained, the confidence in his posture slipping, before both Pokemon disappeared in a blur of movement, cutting around the corner of their problems to return their charge.

-------------------------------

Defensive manoeuvres.

Her pain had kept them all at her bedside throughout the night, her concerted effort to muffle the pain she was obviously in ending when she finally slipped out of consciousness around moonrise. The scent memory of the metallic tang of blood lingered as if it had seared itself to the back of his throat, renewing the fear that preyed the fringes of his mind. The bleeding had been internal, leaving all of his traditional healing methods at odds. His claws dug into the base of his palms, reveling in the brief relief of the pain from his frustration.

It wasn’t enough.

Unable to keep the rising turmoil of emotions that threatened to burst in check, Vene rose to his feet, claws clattering loudly against the tatami mats on the floor as his rapid pace propelled him into the clean, fresh air. Sinking into a deep crouch, he landed on the supporting rafter of the building, turning to face the husband. The husband. Tired eyes tightened with strain, the dark shadow only glanced cursorily over at his entrance, before returning to their consideration of the night sky.

The crouched fox made no move to get up or correct his posture, his eyes settling on the mutt, gaze dark and unreadable. With a heavy sigh, the golden eyes finally flicked to his.

“You didn’t notice?”

“She- she said nothing. She hid It… well.” The soft growl of the dog's response broke at the mention, his hand raising to cover his face once more. The fox’s anxiety grew, the twitches of the tails turning into a furious auburn blur tinged with the blue of rising foxfire.

“That is all you have to say, you stupid, stupid man? That was your pup. You call yourself her mate.”

Something changed in the man’s demeanour, a red tinge bleeding into his eyes. “I am her mate. She came back for me – she came for me, fox-brat! And don’t you forget that.”

AN/ to a regular timeline. Introductions are almost done. This is a skittish story of interconnected segments, that didn't want to be told outright. Time travel is a delicate thing, as will be revealed soon >u<

-----

Unsung heroes.

"Maya."

With a small step, a smile weaving its way onto well-defined features, the tall shadow of the man stepped into the smoky sunlight of midday Tokyo, hiding the smaller woman’s face in darkness. The heat of the day made the air heavy and uncomfortable, although he noticed the woman didn’t seem to mind; her arms were crossed, her sleeves rolled down, as if trying to cover herself from something. At the sound of her name, she was obviously startled, however, her arms leaping apart, as if remembering the heat. A smile appearing on her face, she glanced towards him with nervous embarrassment, hands subtly wiping beneath her eyes.

Her expression froze when it connected with the light jade of carefully watching eyes, a small grin twitching at his lips despite himself. She seemed to recognise something about him, at least. The cigarette in his mouth burned as he inhaled deeply, letting the smoke snake through his nostrils, twisting curiously in on itself until it had formed the shape of a dreidel. Glossy eyes focused on the bewitched smoke, widening. Taking her reaction as a sign he was doing well with jogging her memory, with a careful sniff of the air, he let his disguise drop… subtly, revealing one tail, then a second, before the third.

Her shocked, little exclamation of ‘god’ sent a thrill of excitement that jolted his heart into twice it’s regular speed, before her whisper mouthed the clincher: "...Vene?"

His smile widened at her recognition, and a flush of happiness skidded his heart before he could stop himself. He couldn't completely forget what he had come here to do, though.

A sad expression softened his features as he took in the recent wet streaks that streamed her face, the glisten of tears still fresh in her eyes. Reconciled with this decision, his hand reached out, placating, a quick step bringing him within touching distance as his eyes searched the familiar gleam of vitality of her own. His voice lowered to almost a whispered husk as he tasted her name once more on his tongue.

"Maya. It's been a long time."

“A long time..?” Her hand reached out softly to grasp his, tugging his body closer, as the whole line of the fox stiffened, her soft gaze however, preventing him from breaking away. With a small smile, he sat beside her, balancing on the edge of the bench tentatively as his eyes searched hers, trying to find a way around this. He had forgotten her intuition skills. He had revealed too much, and it was too soon. This was not good; he had to stick to the plan.

A look of confusion took over her face, and Vene half-heartedly attempted to second guess her thought process to it’s eventual conclusions, resignation settling hard in his gut as her expression cleared as well, an understanding dawning in eyes that glanced back at the well. Alarm gave her bright eyes life once more as the abruptly damp gaze followed the lines of the old, decrepit thing, before her gaze tore back to his, burning with the unspoken question.

At his silence, her back straightened, her eyes hardening, as her normally softer tones went curt, sending his tails twitching. “Vene, your past is my future. Please… tell me what happened?” Despite herself though, her voice failed part way through, his mind marking with bitter satisfaction that their emotions were conniving together to reveal their innermost secrets.

The lies on his tongue tasted bitter, cloying in his throat worse than the stink of tobacco. He wasn't perfect - hell, he’d picked up his vice for cigarettes in the eighties and smoked like a chimney – and his nature may have been one of a trickster, but this was a chance he would not leave to fate. The memory of blood, scented but not seen, haunted his senses, the metallic after-taste a brutal kick to his mental process.

With the words, an emotional dam seemed to burst within the woman, the weak, but vainly resisting barrier breaking down over the surge of emotions that followed his words. “Oh gods no, Vene.” Her knees failed her, and she crumpled forward, falling into strong arms that enclosed her, and held her tightly, his mind frantic as he wished he could crush away those tears.

“It’ll be all be ok, Maya.” For the past five hundred years, he had desperately wished it would. His voice roughened, the silk of her hair, her smell, stirring long-forgotten emotions in the seat of his belly. His lips slipped finally into one more smile, a grateful one, and the first one to light his face for what felt like centuries.

He would be proud. The fire burned in his heart as his hands wound tighter around her, hands soothing down her back with light touches. That night that would not occur. She would not go back to him, and his stubborn pride and idiocy would prevent him returning to search for her. The smile turned bitter-sweet again. I never forgot, mutt.

-----
'What if... during those three years where you were taken away from us, Maya... I stole you?'

----

It’s all historyModesty
---

From within the circle of his arms, he could feel the woman’s trepidation, although not the source. A nose twitch, and a subtle glance downwards gave him nothing more than the obvious; her eyes were bruised and tired, although the inquisitive gleam persisted – yet none of these gave him any clue to what was bothering her.

His chin nestled deeper into the soft black mess of her hair. Sobering, Vene forced his giddy thoughts into order, into what he knew of her, this same air, that she used to carry when trying to broach a difficult subject.

Second-guessing her thoughts were one thing, but voicing soft words along the exact line of her thoughts was another.

“You can ask me anything.”

Wide hazel eyes glanced up to met the softened green irises that watched her carefully, pinched by strain despite the smile on his face.

“Vene, aren’t you tired?”

Surprised, the fox’s head slipped back from the warmth of their embrace, a bright delight in the cheerful grin that split his features. Pushing against her hold lightly, the taller man readjusted their heights until they were more level, and he could catch her eye more easily. A pretty eye, Vene noted, his grin growing askance, until small fangs gleamed, slipping from beneath the usual illusions.

“You’re worried about me?”

“Vene. You don’t look older, but… how many years..?”

Her soft voice trailed off, teeth biting into her lip, and with a delighted laugh, his face snuggled into her hair.

This is a review exchange review.Fics:AvariceReview Wanted: I want reviews that focus on plot and characterization. If there is anything wrong with my grammar please let me know since that is a weak point of mine. They shouldn't be long since I'm not a long reviewer. Fair is fair after all. As much as I love praise, if there is something I really screwed up on please tell me.

This story is beautiful. The imagery is quite intense especially whenever Maya and Vene are interacting with one another. You use a lot of vocabulary I have only seen in my AP English classes. You can sense the feelings of regret and unrequited love. There is also a lot of suspense in the story since each chapter takes place in different time periods. You've done a good job.

This is a very original Pokemon Mystery Dungeon plot. I haven't read too many Mystery Dungeon fics but they all followed a similar, linear plot. However the way this story jumps around is interesting and is leaving me with a lot questions. Are Maya and Vene going to reconcile? What's with that other dude that was supposed to be Maya's mate? I'm interested in seeing how the characters deal with the choices they made in the past and how they deal with their future. I'm especially curious to see how time travel fits into this. I wonder if it will be anything like the Time Traveller's Wife.

No criticisms so far. I look forward to reading more of your story. If you ever add a PM list make sure to add me to it! =D

I'm flattered you think my story is beautiful. ;u; Heehee, I'm glad you liked it, the characters hold a special place in my heart. *u* In the next chapter more of their is revealed, and the plot moves forward, but I'm tempted to keep writing it these interconnected segments. Small bites of the story, that build up the tale as you see it. afjklsa.